If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Please note that posts from new users are now moderated. If you have just joined this forum and post a new message it will be held in the moderation queue until a member of staff approves it. Please be patient and our staff will review your submission as soon as possible.

Re: What is your reading?

The drawback of virtual school is lack of human contact. as opposed to a noted merit of traditional education, (Human contact in school is about) providing students with ongoing daily interaction with teachers.

Re: What is your reading?

Originally Posted by corum

The drawback of virtual school is lack of human contact. as opposed to a noted merit of traditional education, (Human contact in school is about) providing students with ongoing daily interaction with teachers.

Still no #1?

Nope. Sorry.

The problem I see with reading #1 is this. The phrase 'human contact' is housed within a larger phrase, one headed by (or introduced by) 'lack', which is what our modifying phrase is attracted to, or rather sees. That is, it sees the entire phrase, not the structure within. Evidence for this is the negation expressed by 'lack':

4. The drawback of virtual school is lack of human contact, [that is], notproviding students with daily ongoing [face-to-face] interaction with teachers.

Omit the adverb 'not' and the resulting sentence is illogical: lack of human contact [is about] providing students with daily ongoing interaction with teachers.

Our original sentence follows the same parsing rule: the modifying phrase is attracted to the entire phrase, not the structure within:

2. The drawback of virtual school is lack of human contact, as opposed to a noted merit of traditional education, [that is], providing students with daily ongoing [face-to-face] interaction with teachers.

__________
Does anyone else see the ambiguity in the word "interaction" here, 'providing students with daily ongoing interaction with teachers'?

Virtual school provides students with daily ongoing interaction with teachers. Our teachers are available online all day.

Re: What is your reading?

Originally Posted by lauralie2

Nope. Sorry.

The problem I see with reading #1 is this. The phrase 'human contact' is housed within a larger phrase, one headed by (or introduced by) 'lack', which is what our modifying phrase is attracted to, or rather sees.

The modifier only sees the head: I first heard it put it this way from Casiopeia, a former moderator at UE, also one of the most brilliant syntacticians besides you and some others, from whom I have learnt a lot.

Originally Posted by lauralie2

That is, it sees the entire phrase, not the structure within. Evidence for this is the negation expressed by 'lack':

[INDENT]4. The drawback of virtual school is lack of human contact, [that is], notproviding students with daily ongoing [face-to-face] interaction with teachers.

Yes. Do appositions modify? If I rename something, or further elaborate on something, do I modify something? What does "modify" mean for a grammarian?

If I say the cat is black, does the predicate adjective modify the cat? I think so. If I say my cat is this, does 'this' modify 'cat'? I think it identifies my cat but it does not modify it. What is "modify"? Was bedautet es?

Originally Posted by lauralie2

Our original sentence follows the same parsing rule: the modifying phrase is attracted to the entire phrase, not the structure within:

Renaming can mean modifying?

Look at this sentence, lauralie, Please. Concentrate on how this abides by what you said above. You wrote:

The phrase 'human contact' is housed within a larger phrase, one headed by (or introduced by) 'lack', which is what our modifying phrase is attracted to

one = a larger phrase
PP= within a larger phrase

llack = which
PP = by lack

Now it seems as if the modifying phrase is attracted in either case to the entire phrase, not to the structure within.